Report: Google to unveil wireless service this week

Report: Google to unveil wireless service this week

Google could launch the service as early as Wednesday.

A wireless industry already plagued by turmoil and uncertainty is about to receive another shock. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Google is set to launch its U.S. wireless service as early as Wednesday of this week.

Sources tell WSJ that the service will allow customers to pay only for the amount of data they actually use each month. This decision should exert even more pressure on traditional carriers to abandon the lucrative practice, known as “breakage,” of forcing subscribers to pay for blocks of data that expire at the end of each month. Studies have determined that because of this practice, smartphone users waste an estimated $28 each month on unused data, WSJ reports.

The rise of upstart wireless carriers offering usage based models – like Republic Wireless and Scratch Wireless – has already exerted pressure on “breakage,” and forced the major carriers to respond. Currently, both T-Mobile and AT&T allow subscribers to roll over data. Google’s entering the market with a usage model may force more carriers to follow suite.

Google’s wireless service will run on the networks of Sprint Corp. and T-Mobile, who have agreed to carry the traffic, the WSJ article reports. Sources reveal that devices will have the capability to switch between both networks, based on which carrier has a stronger signal in a particular location.

Intriguingly, the service will still route phone calls and data through Wi-Fi networks where possible, which has the potential reduce subscribers’ costs even further.

The wireless service will work only on Google’s latest Nexus 6 phones to start.

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